


like strawberry wine

by sweetberri



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, F/M, Gender-Neutral Pronouns, M/M, Mentions of Sex, Pining, Pro Volleyball Player Oikawa Tooru, Reminiscing, Summer Love, slight angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-20
Updated: 2020-05-20
Packaged: 2021-03-03 05:36:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,487
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24279718
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sweetberri/pseuds/sweetberri
Summary: strawberry wine and seventeen. the hot july moon saw everything.
Relationships: Oikawa Tooru/Reader
Kudos: 54





	like strawberry wine

**Author's Note:**

> inspired by the song strawberry wine by deana carter. if you've never heard it, go listen before reading :)

Despite the number of years that passed, this place always remained the same. The creek was steady in its course, the hum of summer insects still present, and that boulder by the maple tree was just how you left it. Granted, it was covered in a layer of fallen canopy that collected over the past year or so, but once you brushed away the leaves, you swore it was just like the day he first brought you here.

_“C’mon, just keep walking. I’m not gonna let you trip,” Oikawa encouraged you forward, though your steps were small and hesitant because he had his hands covering both your eyes. You couldn’t help it; he had you walking blindly._

_It was only a few more steps before he left your face barren, and by the time you blinked your eyes open, adjusting to the light, he was standing in front of you with his arms held out._

_“Tada!” he grinned, and below him was a cheesy red-and-white checkered picnic blanket and a wicker basket with canvas cloth peeking out; the bottle of strawberry wine he somehow snuck out here was just the cherry on top._

_“Oikawa,” you trailed off. You really wanted to resist the smile creeping onto your face, but you couldn’t help it. He was certainly a charmer._

_When you seated yourself next to him, Oikawa was already laying out little sandwiches he made and pouring the wine into little plastic glasses. It was a beautiful rosy color, and condensation quickly built around the edges of the cup. You distantly wondered how he kept the bottle cool all this time._

_“So do you always bring the girls you wanna fuck here?” you grinned slyly. It sounded pessimistic and perhaps a bit vulgar, but you weren’t dumb. This spot was perfect to woo a girl; it was secluded and romantic, and it felt_ special _, like it might be straight out of a storybook._

_Oikawa nearly choked on his drink when you said that. Okay, he got where you might get that idea, but he hadn’t expected you to say something so blunt. It actually made him chuckle, though it came across a little nervous as he scratched the back of his neck._

_“No. Actually, this has always been my little secret. Iwa-chan doesn't even know about it,” Oikawa said, leaning back on his hands._

_You only cocked your head, hoping for him to expand. The more he drank, the more he told you._

_“I think I first came here when I was maybe eight. Iwa-chan and I were playing hide and seek in the woods, and I found this little hidden path that led down here! He was taking so long to find me, I got scared that he just left me.”_

_“I wouldn’t put it past Iwaizumi,” you laughed and took another sip._

_“I wouldn’t either, that’s why I gave up on the game and went to go find him. We were both crying by the time we found each other because we thought we were going to be in trouble for losing the other one.”_

_You admired how little wine it took to get him to open up. The charismatic, cunning, almost snide at times version of Oikawa you always saw never sat quite right with you. Not to say he wasn’t all of those things, but you felt there had to be something more to him. Before now, he never really talked much about his childhood. Before now, you had never seen him laugh so carefree. Before now, you couldn’t remember the last time he looked like he was having fun._

Maybe nowadays, the creek was turning more into a river. You couldn’t see the bottom as well as you recalled, but the flow of water didn’t seem to have receded any lower from the bank. Other than that, there was no discernable difference in any of the scenery. Good. That meant no one else had found this place.

It had once been Oikawa’s secret hideaway, and then it had turned into both yours and his, but now it only belonged to you. Oikawa hadn’t been in Japan for years, besides holidays. Last you heard, he was off in Argentina, making a living in the professional volleyball league. You always knew he was going to go far.

_“You’ll be able to do anything you want,” you told Oikawa. Coming down to the creek was becoming a habit for you two. Today was particularly hot. It wasn’t that the sun beat down terribly, but the air was soggy and heavy; a summer rainstorm passed through a few days ago, but it decided it wanted to hang around a bit longer. After dipping in the creek, you both laid in your swimsuits on that picnic blanket he always brought._

_“You think?” Oikawa asked, staring up at the sky with his hands resting behind his head._

_“I_ know _,” you smiled and turned over, laying your head on his chest. He peered down at you and returned the smile._

_A month ago, you would have probably been met with a self-assured ‘Of course I can, darling!’, but that was a month ago. He wasn’t so scared to be human around you anymore. He could be flawed with you, and there was nothing wrong with that._

_You two ended up having sex right there on that blanket. A bit of a blunt way to put it, but you didn’t know how else to call it. It wasn’t quite making love, but it was far from just fucking. The amount of times you were tempted to cry out ‘I love you, Tooru,’ should probably have been embarrassing, but at least you never actually did it._

You sat in the same place you two had always laid that blanket down. It no longer was marked by splotchy grass, a derivative of you and Oikawa both bearing your weight down on it too often for it to properly grow, but you still knew exactly where it was. You were careful to not plop down onto a bed of stickers, but you found that the ground was remarkably soft.

You don’t know how long you were there, picking dandelions and attempting to weave them together, but when a voice spoke up from behind you, you nearly jumped out of your skin.

“You come down here because you were missing me?”

It didn’t feel real, to hear his voice, but when you turned to look back, there was no mistaking that Oikawa was really here. He was leaning on a tree right where the hidden path opened up, that cocky, but oh so charming grin of his bright as ever.

 _Yes,_ you thought, but you would never say that aloud right now. You couldn’t stop staring. Was this a crazy fever dream? No, you knew very well you weren’t sick. He was here, standing maybe ten feet away.

Oikawa had barely changed. His hair was a little shorter, a little lighter from the South American sun, but other than that, he was the same boy you fell for that summer.

“I could ask you the same thing,” you shot back softly. You couldn’t help but smile a little. It was nice to see him again.

Oikawa didn’t answer for a while. His gaze dropped, locking on fingers that started to fiddle. A few slow steps toward you, then he was lowering himself next to you.

“I actually think about you a lot,” he mumbled. He still didn’t dare look at you, gazing straight ahead. You stared at him in shock.

“Pretty sad, huh? Pro athlete, could have about anything I want, and I’m still in love with a summer fling from high school,” he finished.

Did he just imply what you thought he did? You swallowed thickly.

“You were in love with me?” you asked, voice barely more than a whisper. Oikawa chuckled and finally looked at you.

“More than I’d care to admit, darling.”

Of course he would still call you darling, and of course it would still make your heart flutter. And now your cheeks were getting warm. It was your turn to look away, tucking your head to fix your eyes on the dandelions amassed on your lap. 

Part of you wished he had said something back then, but another part understood why he didn’t. You two were going your separate ways after that summer. But, you couldn’t help but wonder what might have been if either of you _had_ confessed.

“Would you want to go get lunch and catch up?” Oikawa broke you from your thoughts. When you looked at him again, he had a foreign expression on his face; he was smiling, sure, but he looked nervous. He was being human. 

“That would be amazing, Oikawa,” you replied.

Oikawa stood and held his hand out to you. You gladly took it, letting him pull you up before leading the way.


End file.
